Social Democrats win German election, Google fights back, Polestar to go public via SPAC
Yahoo Finance’s Julie Hyman breaks down Monday’s trending headlines.
Video transcript
JULIE HYMAN: The political control of Europe's largest economy is in flux. As the era of Angela Merkel in Germany comes to a close, her governing party, the Christian Democrats, lost power with its worst election showing in its history. The Social Democrats bested them by 1.6 percentage points. Still, it's going to take at least three parties to form a government. And that is a process that could take weeks, if not months.
Google's Android has boosted competition, at least that's the argument the company is making, as it begins its appeal today to overturn the $5 billion antitrust fine imposed by the European Union. In that 2018 decision, EU authorities said Google abused Android's market power to expand Google's search dominance. A verdict may not come for months. And in the meantime, Google has to continue to comply with the EU order, offering Android users alternative search engines.
A hot electric vehicle maker going public through a $20 billion SPAC merger with Gores Guggenheim. Polestar, backed by Volvo, which is in turn owned by Chinese Geely-- it's also backed by Leonardo DiCaprio. The automaker is targeting 29,000 in vehicle sales this year, aims for 290,000 by 2025. Volvo is going to invest as much as $600 million more in Polestar as part of this deal, giving it close to a 50% stake.
